The God Particle

Hi everyone,

It's been busy around our home this summer. I've turned 50. We've ended the regular season of Elijah's baseball season. Our home (and my car) is without air-conditioning. This means we've been visiting other family-members (those with air conditioning or by a lake) a lot recently. And so, I have not been writing on my blog. I hope you will understand.

The God Particle or the Higgs boson has received some media attention this past week because of the reports that the Higgs boson was "discovered". Sample news report here. ""I think we have it," said Rolf-Dieter Heuer, the director general of CERN, the multinational research center headquartered in Geneva. The agency is home to the Large Hadron Collider, the immense particle accelerator that produced the new data by colliding protons." Scientists hope that the Higgs boson is the invisible part of most of the universe that gives it mass.

A couple of items on this. First, it is premature to call this a discovery, at this point. I like this video which gives a little more explanation than the news article can provide - Higgs Boson explanation / http://vimeo.com/41038445. If you have 7 minutes, and want to learn a little more about the topic, check it out.

Next, is an interesting article on why there is strong resistance by scientists to calling the Higgs boson the "God Particle". Here is an excerpt:

… In an interview with NPR, Victoria Martin, a lecturer in physics and astronomy at the University of Edinburgh and a former student of Higgs, explained why scientists don't like the "God Particle" term.

SIEGEL: I want to ask you about this particle's nickname, the "God particle." What did Higgs, who've I've read is an atheist, think about the nickname the "God particle"?

MARTIN: I'm sure - I actually haven't ever asked him this directly, but I'm sure he doesn't like it. Almost all particle physicists detest that name. ...

So the name stuck and I think it's fine because then people know what we're talking about. But secretly, all of us hate the name, the "God particle." …

Article here. And if you want a silly joke that combines religion and the Higgs boson, here you go:

A Sydney Morning Herald
piece collects the jokes:

A Higgs boson walks into a church, according to one joke which did the rounds. "We don't allow Higgs bosons in here!" shouts the priest. "But without me, how can you have mass?" asks the particle.

May God bless you this week, with all of His Glorious blessings. Amen, /s/Tom Wolff